


countless conversations about forgotten stars

by theredhoodie



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Post-Season/Series 04, Sort of canon-AU of S5
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-19
Updated: 2017-07-19
Packaged: 2018-12-04 00:49:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11543973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theredhoodie/pseuds/theredhoodie
Summary: For six months, Daisy has been looking after Gabe and working in honest-to-goodness, outer space. When she’s woken up one night by a call from the emergency communicator she gave Gabe, she fears the worst, only to find herself pleasantly surprised to hear Robbie’s voice on the other end. At least she now knows he’s alive, though her full investigation of the fact is going to have to be very thorough. Just to make sure.





	countless conversations about forgotten stars

**Author's Note:**

> So I binged s4 of AOS like a month ago and promptly wrote this because I need these two to get together like YESTERDAY. 
> 
> This is set in S5, though I kept it really vague since I wanted to focus on the characters, not the action/setting. I've overheard some talk of fans thinking that the space setting is with S.W.O.R.D., which I kind of took and ran with, but super vaguely so people can still enjoy this once we actually know what S5 will be.
> 
> And without further ado, the fic!
> 
> PS, a huge thank you to Ace for editing this for me!

"Hey, kid." Daisy leaned against a nondescript black Sudan, the school bell ringing in the air around her as high school kids milled around like hordes of ants.

Gabe's brow furrowed and gripped his wheels in his hands. "Daisy?"

She looked different from the last time he saw her. Her hair was light and long, she wasn't beat up, and she wasn't in a SHIELD uniform. It seemed like an eternity since SHIELD dropped him off back into his old life. It hadn't been really that long. Barely over one month.

"The one and only." She tossed her arms out to the sides and pushed off from the car. "You want some pizza?"

"It's two in the afternoon."

She glanced around. "So is that a no for the pizza?"

"No, no." He cut a hand through the air. "What exactly are you doing here?"

"Oh, that. Your…Robbie asked me to look after you. So I am. Trying at least. It's hard to get away from the job lately." She sighed and crossed her arms. "Look, I'm not gonna be badgering you about anything you don't wanna talk about. The least you can do is say yes to a ride and some pizza."

He thought about it for a moment, spotting Jesus heading in his direction, ready to pick him up from school. One of the perks of being put under S.H.I.E.L.D. protection was his Life Attendant who helped him out since Robbie wasn't around.

"Uh…yeah, pizza. Cool," Gabe finally answered.

"Sweet," Daisy said, just as Jesus arrived. She easily put two and two together and waited as they spoke hastily in Spanish. A few minutes later and Jesus was helping lift Gabe into her car and she floundered as she tried to fold up his wheelchair. Robbie made it look so much easier.

"This is Jesus by the way," Gabe introduced, buckling himself in.

"Hola," Daisy said with a smile. "Daisy."

"Hello, Miss Daisy," Jesus replied.

She glanced down at Gabe. "I got this. I'm stronger than I look," she added when Gabe protested.

Gabe let out a sigh and told Jesus to just meet them back at the house. Jesus hesitated, and for that Daisy was glad for S.H.I.E.L.D.'s intense screenings of employees.

She got into the driver's seat and started the engine. "So, where's the best place for pizza around here?"

He directed her to the place and she jumped out to grab an extra-cheesy large. It was chilly enough to sit in the car under the heat of the sun and eat straight from the box, their seats pushed all the way back.

"So, how's life been?" she asked, wiping her mouth of grease with those tiny, useless paper napkins that pizza joints always carried. Had they never heard of paper towels before?

He shrugged. "You know, the usual. Oh, except my uncle went insane, my brother's head lights on fire, and I have no family left."

Daisy froze and then shrugged. She was expecting this. It wasn't going to be an easy transition. "Right. That sucks."

"Sucks is not the word I'd use." He angrily tore into a slice.

Yep, definitely Robbie's brother.

"Okay. What would you use?" It had been Jemma's idea for Daisy to play therapist for Gabe Reyes after everything he'd been through. She thought that Daisy could relate. It was painfully true.

Gabe sighed and ate a bit more before replying. "Disappointing. My parents drop my brother and I like hot potatoes and haven't contacted us since my third birthday. My uncle got tossed in prison and then, well you know the rest better than I do. And Robbie? He was the  _only_  person I knew really cared about me my whole life and what did he do? Got himself turned into a monster and just  _left_."

The air rang with his words. Daisy crunched down on a bit of crust and broke the silence.

"That about sums it up," she commented, sitting back in the seat

"I mean, Robbie… _kills_  people," he whispered as if they were being watched.

Daisy wouldn't deny it. She'd seen it multiple times in person. But what she knew was that it wasn't Robbie. At least, it wasn't  _all_  Robbie. He told her that he got no joy out of the lives he took and she believed him. It was all very complicated, and she wasn't surprised that Gabe had found a rut to get stuck in.

"All true things," she said, waving her hands around. "But this world is complex, Gabe. It's not black-and-white."

"I know."

"I know you think you do, but you're still young and you haven't seen nearly as much as you will by the time you're thirty." Daisy sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Just, try to put yourself in Robbie's shoes every once and awhile."

Gabe heaved a breath but nodded. He would try it. It was the least he could do. "Where is Robbie anyway? Is he gone for good?"

Daisy looked over at him, so young and alone. She'd been that way once, before SHIELD found her. She had just done a better job at hiding her pain.

"Robbie is…he took something from this world that people were using to destroy us. He saved all of us," Daisy simplified the story for him. In truth, it was the Rider who saved them, but she didn't know the details well enough to try to explain it. Coulson never talked about it.

"Robbie saved the world?" Gabe scoffed.

Daisy raised her eyebrows at him. "You think I'm lying?"

"I think you put too much faith in my brother."

"Maybe I do. When we first met, we fought. I was in a very bad place…" She pressed her hands together in her lap. "I wanted it all to end, but Robbie didn't kill me. He could have, but he didn't."

Gabe swallowed and avoided her gaze. "Everything isn't black-and-white," he repeated.

She clicked her tongue and shot him a finger gun. "Exactly, kiddo."

  


  


  


  


  


  


  


  


Two weeks later, when she was headed to Earth to visit Gabe again, Jemma stopped her just before she reached the transport pod.

"Will you bring something back with you for me?" Jemma asked, grabbing Daisy's arm.

Daisy glanced round, futile. There were cameras and microphones everywhere. "Why can't you just ask Agent Tight-Ass to bring it to you?" She chuckled at herself.

Jemma sighed. "You know why."

"Sure, what is it?" Daisy squeezed Jemma's shoulder.

After Jemma explained the specifics of her request, Daisy stepped into the pod. The world went dark a few seconds later. "I hate this part," she groaned, squeezing her eyes shut.

This time, she was late, and drove straight to the Reyes house. Jesus's gold Subaru was parked in the front, the garage was locked up tight. She knew Robbie's Charger was in there; she'd requested it be put there when the team first got taken after saving the world from A.I.D.A. and Ivanov.

She parked her car by the curb and walked up to the door. "Hey, it's Daisy," she called along with her knock. Someone told her to come in, so she did. Jesus was cleaning up; Gabe was at the table, homework spread out around him.

"You're back," he said, apprehensive.

"I told you I would be," she said, pulling out a chair and joining him. She crossed her arms and leaned forward. "So Jesus does everything for you?  _Lucky_."

She knew she shouldn't press, but it was hard not to. She needed Gabe to face the facts so he could go back to being a normal teenager and sometimes that meant tough love.

"Yeah, lucky." The sarcasm was not lost on her.

She stood and walked around the house. She'd never been here since the night Robbie brought her home. It was funny to think about it that way, like she was a wounded stray he had brought in to take care of.

That  _was_  exactly what happened, but it was still funny to think about, considering how they'd started and where they ended last.

The place was small. Jesus was in a room with a door open; bedroom. Definitely Gabe's by the tidiness of it. Next was the bathroom and then—

"Don't go in there." Gabe wheeled up behind her silently.

Daisy snatched her hand back from where it hovered by the handle. "Is this…?"

"Robbie's room. I keep it shut."

She glanced at the dark door and then back to him. "Okay. Wanna play some video games?"

Gabe thought about protesting but then he shrugged and wheeled himself around. Daisy joined him and let him pick, taking the controller he offered. He locked his wheels at the end of the couch and she folded her legs up on the cushions.

A racing game came up on screen. It split for the two of them. Daisy picked the pink plastic looking sports car and Gabe chose his preset red Challenger.

"Robbie used to race," Gabe said after a few minutes.

Daisy glanced over at him. "Yeah, he told me."

"He was crazy reckless but he loved cars. Sometimes more than me, I think."

"I highly doubt that your  _brother_  loved a car more than you," Daisy said, trying to think of what Coulson would say as counsel.

Gabe shrugged. "I mean, I get it, cars are badass. I used to work on the Charger with Eli when I was a kid. I mostly just handed him and Robbie tools but it was something we did as a family, y'know?"

"I get it," Daisy said softly. The first time she'd met her parents, she had that: a moment of peace, eating dinner around a table, exchanging stories, learning her birth name. She sucked in a breath as her car flipped.

"Robbie also kicks ass at this game," Gabe chuckled.

"Yeah, I bet he cheats somehow. He doesn't seem the type to like to lose."

"Ha, no. Even before he got weird, it was first place or nothing at all."

Daisy quirked a smile. That did sound like Robbie.

They kept playing until it was nearly time for Daisy to go. As she stood and stretched, she remembered Jemma's request and turned to Gabe. "So, random question, but know where I can buy a sweater vest?"

  


  


  


  


  


  


  


  


"You never really talk about yourself," Gabe mentioned on her third visit. They're at the house again, though this time Daisy was cycling through channels with the TV on mute and Gabe's doing homework at the kitchen table.

"I'm here to help you, not to brag about myself," she shot over her shoulder.

He scoffed. "I hate attention if it's pity."

"It's not pity." She tossed aside the remote and twisted around on the couch so she could him. "Robbie asked me to look after you. So here I am, looking aftering."

Gabe sighed. "If he really cared, he would be here, not you—" he paused. "No offense."

"A little offense taken." She stood and joined him at the table. "Look, Gabe…Robbie didn't have a choice. You have to understand that. There were forces at work, older and more powerful than human free will."

"Just because you keep saying that doesn't mean I'm gonna magically start believing you."

She sighed. He was so damn stubborn. Kind of like the other Reyes' she had met in her life. "Okay, so you're pissed at your brother for leaving?"

"Yeah."

"And for being a murderer?"

"Obviously."

Daisy sat forward, "And what if I told you that I've killed people before?"

That startled him away from his books. He looked over at her. "But it was out of self-defense, right?"

"Yeah. That still doesn't mean I haven't killed people."

He frowned.

"Robbie made a deal with a literal demon to save  _your_  life. He made that choice because he loves you and didn't want to live without you. Every bad thing he's done afterward wasn't really him. He doesn't enjoy killing people, but the thing he had to become to save you…it needs to be fed and if it isn't it will leave Robbie and he'll die. Like  _actually_  die for good. Understand?"

Gabe looked everywhere but at her.

"Hey, look at me."

It took him a while but he did.

"Just like I've killed people because of my job, Robbie has to do that to do  _his_  job, which is to be your brother and to protect you."

The air was thick with tension.

"You make it sound so easy," Gabe said finally.

Daisy sat back hard in the chair. "It's not. I've just had longer to work through it. Just…think about what I said, okay?"

  


  


  


  


  


  


  


  


Today was a bad day. Not that her trips were ever overly cheery. The last two had been relatively  _nice_ , they hadn't gotten into much heavy stuff but here was Gabe nearly in tears over something Daisy hadn't quite figured out yet.

He hadn't ever seemed put down by being in a wheelchair. She'd heard him say it to Robbie himself on the Quinjet, but this was different. This was self-deprecation, Gabe suddenly blaming himself and his accident for why Robbie was gone.

It was true, but then again, all of this was painted in shades of grey.

"We both know this isn't your fault," Daisy said, trying her best to wrangle the situation, "but I also know that no matter how many times I say it, you're not gonna believe me right now."

"Damn straight."

"And why is that?"

"Because! Because I'm here and if Jesus wasn't, I wouldn't even be able to stay living here." The house was modified  _enough_  but not enough for him to live comfortably alone. He'd always need someone around to help him here. "I have to rely on a  _stranger_  to live while my entire family abandoned me!"

Daisy rubbed her temples. "Don't blame Jesus, he's a great guy."

"That isn't the point."

"I know. The point is you feel totally and utterly alone. It's terrifying!" She couldn't believe she was using the same words at Gabe as she'd used with Robbie. The brothers, who thought they were so different, weren't so different after all.

"Yeah, it is."

She sighed. Just a month ago he'd complained that she never talked about herself. Well here goes. "I know how you feel." She raised a hand to stop him protesting. "I was born in China and dropped off at a orphanage when I was just a baby and I had no idea who I was my entire life. I was put in homes, I was juggled around because no one wanted me. I didn't even have a  _name_. So I grew up tough. I became my own family, I named myself, and I thought I was fine, but I wasn't.

"And then S.H.I.E.L.D. found me. And yeah, they became my family, but I wasn't exactly used to it so it was a hard adjustment. I was betrayed by someone I thought I loved and I never got over it. I'm pretty sure it'll always be there like an ugly, invisible scar." She sat forward and made sure that he was looking at her.

"A few years ago, I met my parents, my birth parents. I was so happy that I finally found my mom and my dad. But my dad was like actually insane; and he killed a lot of people around me because his view of love was skewed from years of…let's call it drug abuse. And my mom? Yeah, she was amazing, giving me my real name, telling me my birthday, and then she tried to  _kill me_  and she would have if she wasn't stopped."

Gabe's eyes continued to widen as she laid out the bare facts about her rough past.

"And then I lost another person close to me and hurt the people I cared about, and I ran away from my family at S.H.I.E.L.D. That's when I met Robbie and you. Somehow, because the universe has some weird sense of humor, in the darkest part of my life, I met someone like Robbie and he took me back to my real family, my S.H.I.E.L.D. family."

She sat back and rubbed her face. "My point is that family is complex. It comes and goes and family doesn't always mean blood. So me? Maybe you'll come to think of me as family one day. Maybe Jesus, too. But you can't keep blaming yourself or Robbie for how your life is now. Robbie made a sacrifice for you larger than either of us can really imagine, and maybe you have to make a sacrifice for him too."

They sat in silence for a little longer and then Gabe spoke.

"Wow, that was uh…not what I expected."

"What were you expecting?"

"I don't know. For you to just tell me to stop pitying myself and then we'd play video games," he answered sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

Daisy slowly worked herself into a laugh. "Sorry for the spiel. Wanna play a game?"

He smiled and wheeled himself over to the living room.

  


  


  


  


  


  


  


  


She came late this time. It wasn't like her, but something bad happening up in the sky had overshadowed her clearance.

They sat outside in the back yard; Daisy on an old lawn chair that sunk into the grass a bit too much, causing her to be staring right at the stars.

"Sorry I'm late," she said again.

"It's fine," Gabe shrugged.

"I don't want you to think that I'll ever not come visit you, okay?" The last thing she needed to be was another person close to him who left and never came back.

"Can you promise that?"

"No. With my work I…I can't promise it. But if it makes you feel better, if I ever don't show up, it's not because I don't care about you, it's because I'm dead or in a coma."

He frowned up at the sky. "I'm not sure that makes me feel better."

She made a face at her poor judgment. "Yeah you're right. That was kinda morbid."

"Where do you work anyway? You never told me."

He'd asked before. And every time she stopped him cold. She was feeling in a giving mood tonight.

"It's classified."

"S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

"Nope. S.H.I.E.L.D. is gone. Again. It's sad really." She had crafted herself into the woman she was today within S.H.I.E.L.D. The fact that it was  _gone_  was still a bit much to think about.

"Then how long's Jesus gonna be here?" A spike of fear in his voice.

Daisy patted his hand. "Don't worry, his payments are safe, Coulson made sure. He'll be here until the day you die of old age, kiddo."

His forehead creased with worry but then she shrugged it off. "So why can you only come every two weeks?"

"My new job is very far way."

"Like where? Russia?"

She laughed. "Farther."

"Antarctica?"

"God no. Too cold. I'd freeze and pull a Captain America."

He laughed. "So where?"

She tilted her head back and stared at the twinkling stars. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Yes I would."

"Then I'd have to kill you. Spy Organization 101."

He sighed, defeated.

She reached over and tousled his hair. "Legit shortest visit ever but," she glanced at her watch. "I gotta go."

"Really?"

"Yep." She hoisted herself to her feet and pushed him over the soft grass to the patio so he could wheel himself in.

"You haven't heard from Robbie?" Gabe asked as she gathered up her few things inside.

This was nearing the end of month five since Robbie left through that crazy portal the Rider taught him to make. Daisy breathed slowly, in and out.

"No. Nothing."

"I miss him." Gabe sounded surprised at his own words.

Daisy turned around and gave him a sad smile. "Me too."

  


  


  


  


  


  


  


  


Daisy woke up to a beeping that was not her morning alarm. Frowning, she shook herself awake and then realized what the sound was. A long time ago, she'd given Gabe a com device that would reach her in space in case there was an emergency.

Her heart leapt into overdrive as she dove across the room and rummaged through the mess on her table until she found the receiver. She hit the button on the top and held it up to her mouth. "Gabe? What happened? Is something wrong?"

"Daisy?"

The voice on the other end was not the Reyes brother she was expecting. Her eyes searched around the darkness of the room desperately. "Robbie?"

"Hey."

One simple word and her stomach twisted and her heart grew three sizes. God, she was so whipped. The team would have a field day if they found out. "You're back," she said breathlessly. She sat where she was on the cold floor, clutching the com and closing her eyes.

"For now."

She could picture him perfectly, probably standing in the kitchen of his house, wearing that dumb jacket and a smirk that always drove her crazy though she'd never admit it out loud. "That's…that's good. That's really good."

"Where are you? Gabe said you never told him."

She opened her eyes. Her eyes were adjusted to the darkness of the room. She could see her cot in the corner, the door that opened up to the hallway, her table and equipment. "It's a long story."

"Oh, come on. That's all I'm getting?"

Daisy sighed and let the com fall to her lap. Could she really drag him back into all of this? He had his own, literal, demons to handle. "I…I can't tell you here." She knew for a fact that she was being watched. Her new  _employers_  didn't really take too well to breaches of security and trust, both of which she was adamant to break.

"Okay. Can you come by?"

Could she? Technically. She usually asked in advance for her trips to see Gabe, but maybe she could cut corners this time. "Right now?"

A pause. "Uh…yeah?" It was more question than sarcastic comment.

Daisy dragged herself to her feet, her back popping as she stood. She frowned into the darkness. "I wish I could. I can't leave right now." She walked over to the wall and nudged the switch. The room flooded with light. She squinted. "How long are you staying?"

"I don't know. A little while, probably." He was disappointed. "It's uh…different with me and Gabe right now."

She pressed her fingertips to the bridge of her nose. "I know," she said softly. And for once, she wasn't just saying that. She and Gabe had been talking about Robbie for the better part of six months now. "I'll come as soon as I can."

"Yeah, okay. Goodnight, Daisy." Words hasty, rushed; she'd unsettled him.

"'Night, Robbie," she ended the call, even though she had no intention of sleeping now. Putting down the com, she pulled on pants and a shirt and grabbed her ID badge before leaving the room.

The base was quiet. She headed directly to the bridge, where she was met with guards telling her she couldn't meet with the director. Instead, she grabbed a tablet, sent in a request for an Earth visit and waited impatiently outside the bridge.

"Morning," Coulson said, arriving at her side with a coffee. She took it gratefully. "What's up?"

"Robbie's back," Daisy said, the words music to her ears. She thought he was going to be gone forever. Again.

"Really? Does that mean what I think it means?"

She glanced around and lifted her mug to muffle her voice. "That he found a place to stash the you-know-what? Yeah, apparently."

He was quick on the uptake. "You're heading down early to figure out what happened to it, aren't you?"

She nodded. It was only part of the reason she was going. The other was that she really, really,  _really_ wanted to see Robbie Reyes. "I don't know if Ms. Tight-Ass will let me go for long enough."

Coulson slurped his coffee. "Let me see what I can do."

  


  


  


  


  


  


  


  


Daisy drove a maniac to the Reyes house. She almost got into a few accidents but made it safely somehow. The tires screeched on the asphalt as she stopped. Jesus's car wasn't in its usual place, but she didn't see the Charger either.

It had taken her twenty-eight hours to get her leave. Had she missed him?

She slammed her car door and shoved her keys in her jacket as she walked up to the front of the house. She knocked before walking in, her usual entrance as of late. "Gabe?" she called out as she stepped in.

It was early, ten in the morning, and a Sunday, so Gabe should be home. He wheeled out of his room as she turned around from closing the door. "Hey," he said, startling her.

She tried to hide her jump with a laugh. "Hey, sneaky. Is…did he leave already?" She tried not to sound desperate. Failed, desperately.

"Robbie? Oh, no, he's out buying food."

She let out a sigh of relief and melted onto the couch. "Thank God."

"You wanna see him that bad?" Gabe asked, face and voice innocent.

Daisy rolled one of her shoulders. "Remember that save-the-world thing? I need to check up with him on it."

"Uh-huh."

"Plus, it'll be good to see what shape he's in," she added.

A few minutes passed and she heard the familiar sound of the Charger. Glancing at Gabe, she snuck outside and came up behind Robbie as he leaned into his trunk to grab plastic bags.

"Long time no see," she said.

Somehow, he wasn't startled. She must have been getting rusty with her sneaking around.

Instead, he smirked into the trunk and stood, holding out a few bags to her. "Nice to see you too, chica."

She half-smiled in return, taking the bags. "Sorry it took so long to get here." They started walking across the grass. "Don't tell Gabe but, I um…" She paused, and he did too. She leaned close so no one—namely Gabe—would overhear, "I work in freaking outer space."

He moved away from her and glanced up toward the sky, raising his eyebrows in question.

She nodded, a gleeful smile on her face. "Yeah,  _there_. Crazy, right?"

"Crazy," he mused before they walked in.

Half an hour later, when the food was all away, Gabe wheeled himself into his room, saying he'd give them "space" to catch up since he'd already gotten a whole day with Robbie.

She sat on the couch. He sat on the chair that no one ever used across from her.

"So the…book," she said, not wanting to say the name. It drudged up horrible memories that she would rather forget. "Where is it?"

"Safe. Or so he thinks." There was no need to ask who  _he_  was.

She pressed her hands together. "You can't give me any more than that?" He stared at her. "It's just that Coulson asked."

"Tell him I don't know exactly where. We went through a lot of portals to get it where we got. I couldn't make it back on my own." He leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees, not looking at her for a while until finally he did.

She wanted to rip that dumb jacket off him and kiss him senseless. Instead, she sunk back into the couch cushion and crossed her legs.

"Daisy." He said her name softly, like he was being careful with it.

"Yes, Robbie?"

And then there he was, just staring at her with soft eyes and freckles across his face like he was some sort of angel and she knew for sure that she was completely and royally whipped.

"Wanna go for a ride?"

That was not what she was expecting. She nodded and jumped to her feet, "Let's go."

They ran the car down to the fumes, saying very little, eating amazing cart-food and just enjoying the fact that they were both on Earth. An Earth that wasn't being messed with by S.H.I.E.L.D. or HYRDA or A.I.D.A. or any other acronym that had previously messed shit up.

"Ah, this is fucking nice," Robbie said as the sun sunk lower. They were resting against the bumper, chowing down on tacos.

"Took the words right out of my mouth," Daisy said, raising her taco for a toast. He obliged her.

"How're you and Gabe?" she asked, prodding gently.

"Different, but better than I thought it would be."

"I hate to boast…oh who am I kidding, I love to boast." She grinned. "I had some part in it. Jemma made sure I came down and mentored and played therapist for him so he would be happy to see you when you came back."

He looked at her like he was seeing her for the first time. "You're serious? You did that for me?"

"Yeah. I did." She smiled and looked over their view, ignoring the heat in her cheeks.

  


  


  


  


  


  


  


  


The front door clicked open, rousing Daisy. She saw first the clock on the DVD player—1:23 AM—and then the shadow fall over the couch. She blearily rubbed her face and swung her legs off the couch.

"Robbie?" she whispered as a dark shape moved toward the bathroom. He didn't say anything, only flicked on the light and left the door half open.

Swallowing hard, Daisy stood and followed him, pushing open the door and crossing her arms over her chest. There was blood in the sink as he washed his hands. She bit down on her bottom lip.

"You okay?" she asked, shaking the quiet of the house.

He shrugged and glanced into the mirror at her mussed hair, facial features softened by sleep. "A day in the life." He finished rinsing his hands and turned to grab one of the black—smart—towels hanging. "Dios mio, Daisy, my brother's in the next room."

She raised her eyebrows and looked down. She'd fallen asleep in nothing but her shirt and panties. Like actual brief cut panties, not the shorts she usually wore as part of her uniform. "What?" She shrugged. "I was under a blanket."

He sighed with exasperation and unzipped his jacket, wiping the front down with the damp towel. "What…what exactly are you doing here, Daisy?"

"What do you mean? You asked me to come. I  _wanted_  to come." She waved her hands in the air between them. "I thought that was kind of known."

He laid his jacket against the edge of the tub and then crowded her space, close enough for her to catch her breath. Oh how they were venturing into dangerous territory here. Neither of them spoke, their faces just a few inches apart, his drenched in shadow, hers open to the light behind him. He was hard to read on a good day, but in this light?

"Fuck it," Daisy breathed finally, grabbing his shirt in her fists and bringing her mouth to his. He didn't resist, his arms circling around her frame, his lips moving against hers.

 _God_ , why hadn't they done this sooner?

Daisy's skin felt like it was covered in electricity and she inexplicably pulled him backward with her, into the darkness. He moved with her, one hand grabbing her ass, the other sliding up her neck, pulling her closer.

And then, just like that, he stopped and stepped back, blinking widely, hands resting on her shoulders for a moment before they left completely. "What are you doing?" he asked, voice a hushed whisper.

Daisy felt a spider of warmth crawling along her spine, digging into her core, awakening something long since thought to be dead. "What do you mean?" Breathless, more like gasping for air, her body attacked by the cool air of the house.

"What…?" He looked at her as if she'd suddenly grown two heads. "What do I mean? My brother is asleep right there." He waved toward a nearby door.

Daisy could have laughed, but she stifled it with a hand. So at least he wasn't pissed about her kissing him. She shook out her arms and closed the space between them again, sliding her hands up his chest. "I can be quiet," she whispered.

He muttered something in Spanish and rubbed the back of his neck. "It's not you I'm worried about, chica."

It took a moment for the words to sink in. "Oh… _oh_." She flushed. Her, Daisy Johnson,  _blushed_! She moved her hands higher, hooking her hands together behind his head. She kissed him again, softly, barely letting him respond before pulling back. "We could…" she kissed him again, a little longer, feeling his arms move back to her hips, fingers pressing against her muscles, "take it", another kiss, longer, lips parted, "slow" she finished, lips brushing against his.

"And why would we do that?" he asked, resting his forehead against her own.

Daisy laughed as quietly as she could. She could feel his skin warming against her skin, and she was too tired to be worried that it meant something bad. "Maybe because of the long distance thing," she offered, pausing only to kiss the exposed dip in his collarbone. "You're always in some hell dimension and I live in  _space_. Maybe slow is good."

"Maybe, maybe, maybe." He took her head in his hands and she slipped her arms around his back, feeling the taut muscles under his shirt.

"Or we could use your Charger," she offered, a smile playing on her face.

He covered her mouth with his and she deeply regretted saying maybe. "That…would not be a good idea," he confessed. One wrong thought and the car would burst into flames. Not exactly the low exposure he was looking for.

Daisy scrunched up her nose. "Aw, shucks." She dug her fingers into his lower back to force him to arch closer to her. "Slow it is." She kissed him, a soft peck before stepping back, out of his grasp. She tore her gaze off of him and rounded the couch, leaning down to pick up the blanket.

Robbie flicked off the bathroom light and then said, "Hey."

Daisy looked up, barely able to see his silhouette. "What?" she whispered back.

"You said slow, not frigid. My room's over there." He really didn't have to say. He walked by her and took her wrist in his hand, bringing her along with him.

She followed him and held her breath walking over the threshold as if she were walking into a whole new world. And she kind of was; she'd never made out with someone possessed by the devil before.

"So…" For half a second, she lost her cool, taking in the very bachelor pad array of his room. Nothing too surprising, and it wasn't as bad as some; probably because he was rarely here. "Are you as aggressive in bed as you are in a fight?"

Robbie turned on the small lamp next to his bed and twisted around to smirk at her. "What do you think?"

She takes a step toward him. "I get roughed up enough at work." She slid her hands under his shirt, lightly scratching his skin with her short nails. "Don't worry though, having meaningful casual sex with me won't erase your badass reputation." She bit down on her bottom lip and smiled.

"Meaningful  _and_  casual?" His hands slid under her clothes too: one under the thin band on her panties, the other traveling up her spine

Daisy rolled her eyes. "Just roll with it." She nudged his shirt up more and he did the rest, tossing it to the floor. She pushed him back toward the mattress, keeping her power out of it, even though it would be so easy to mess around with him a little bit with it. She joined him on the bed, straddling him around the waist. His hands trailed up her thighs to her hips.

With a sly smile on her face, she leaned down, one hand on the mattress to steady herself, the other reaching up to his face, tracing the shape of his jaw as she kissed him, hard and desperate. She trailed her free hand over his skin, wanting all of him at once. Minutes stretched out to eternity, hands roaming, lips parting, and tongues soft.

Robbie moaned into her mouth. It sent chills through her and reminded her of the need to be quiet. He definitely,  _definitely_ was not going to be quiet. She broke off their frenzied kiss and put a finger over his lips, "Shshhh." She was mostly trying not to laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation.

If a stare could be sarcastic, Robbie succeeded in the first ever.

"Charger?" she suggested again.

"No," he shook his head sharply.

She sat back on her heels and felt his erection throbbing through his jeans. "Is this too fast for you?" He was so easy to tease. When did he become so easily teased? When did their flirting change from literal battles to schoolyard teases?

He sucked in a breath through his teeth, running his hands along her hips, her stomach. "You're killing me."

She laughed airily and sat back just enough to unbutton and unzip his pants. "Maybe this'll help…" She leaned over him again, planting a kiss on his clavicle before sliding her hand under his boxers and circling his head with the soft tips of her fingers.

He shuddered under her touch and clenched his jaw, locking another moan in the base of his throat. She moved her hand lazily, not planning on going very far, and trailed kisses up his neck, his skin burning up under her touch. At last, she dragged her mouth away from his skin and fully wrapped her hand around his cock.

"Guess what?" she asked, her own heart pounding in her ears. She was so much more turned on just from  _him_  than she had anticipated.

"Qué?" he gasped.

"Gabe has school tomorrow. We'll," she abruptly removed her hand from his pants, only to find his own hand clutching at her wrist in protest, imprisoning her hand between the two of them, "have the place to ourselves."

She flexed her hand until he let go and slunk up his body, pressing her torso against his, nothing but a thin shirt between them. She nestled her elbows on either side of his head and placed a hasty kiss on his warms lips. "To be continued tomorrow," she said.

Oh boy did she want to stay. She could feel just how wet she was, her body aching and craving whatever he was willing to give. But this tease was just going to make the real deal that much sweeter. She kissed him once more before escaping his grasp and leaving him lying there, frustrated and yet feeling more alive than he had in a long while.

She wiped her mouth on the back of her hand and twisted around to look at him. His eyes raked over her with absolutely no subtlety. She felt a warm twist in her core.  _Shit_.

If she lingered any longer, she wasn't going to leave. Sucking in a breath between her teeth, she left the room, closing the door behind her tightly. She leaned against the door and calmed herself before returning to the couch and wrapping herself in the blanket even though she was already too warm. She nestled down against the thin pillow Gabe gave her earlier and closed her eyes.

  


  


  


  


  


  


  


  


Daisy was forced awake when Gabe was awake since she had no walls to hide behind. Body still tingling from the night, she was oh so thankful lady boners were entirely invisible. She pulled on her jeans just before Gabe wheeled out of his room, mostly dressed.

"Morning," she said cheerily before dipping into the kitchen to give him space to do whatever it was teenage boys did in the morning. She raked her hands through her hair and tied it back, up and out of the way, as she scoured the kitchen for food to make.

"Eggs," she said, noting the carton in the fridge. "I can do eggs. I think."

Gabe chuckled as he came into the kitchen. "You can't cook?"

"I basically lived on food trucks most of my life and working with S.H.I.E.L.D. came with a meal plan so…" She shrugged a shoulder. How hard could it be?

Ten minutes later, when Robbie shuffled out of his room, he found Daisy attempting to scramble eggs and Gabe laughing along with her lack of finesse. He leaned against the open doorway, surveying the scene, trying to remember this for the next time he was taken on a ride to a place too horrible to describe.

"Try not to burn the house down," he said finally.

Daisy glanced over her shoulder at him, their eyes meeting briefly. A smile curled her lips and she turned back to the pan. "Good morning to you, too."

"Daisy's doing surprisingly well. You'd probably be impressed," Gabe interjected.

Daisy didn't know exactly how tense things had been between the two Reyes brothers before she got here, but she was more than happy to play mediator and buffer if it meant Robbie could actually look his brother in the eye and maybe even smile a little.

When Robbie returned from the bathroom, Daisy was putting plates of eggs on the table and she looked more at home than he felt here.

"You gonna eat, or you gonna just stand there all day?" Daisy asked him before sliding into a chair.

Gabe locked his wheels and tried the first bite. Daisy waited expectantly to see if her cooking was deadly or edible. "Not bad," he nodded. "Just…less salt next time."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Daisy shrugged, grabbing her own fork and digging in. Robbie joined them and there was the scrape and screech of fork tines against plates and the incessant need of water and juice refills due to the salt.

It was the best morning Robbie had in a long time.

Robbie drove Gabe to school—Gabe got an instant boost in cool-kid points whenever he arrived in the Charger—and Daisy picked up the house as much as she could be bothered. She was used to living in a van or with S.H.I.E.L.D., it didn't really call for much cleanup. Mostly she just wanted to keep herself busy until Robbie came back.

Every other time she touched down on planet to visit Gabe, it was not even for twenty-four hours. This time, she'd gotten three days.  _Three_! That was thanks to Coulson. She wondered if she was that transparent, or if he was just being kind to her, knowing she didn't like being so disconnected from the earth. She never realized just how powerful she felt surrounded by a shifting crust until she was on a space station that floated in the negative particles of the universe. She could still  _quake_ , but it was harder and she risked all of their lives by doing so if she miscalculated and blew a hole in the station.

She was sitting on the couch, flipping through bad morning TV when she heard the Charger outside. Her stomach twisted with butterflies and she wondered when she reverted back to a teenage girl.

Placing the remote on the coffee table, she stood up, needing to be moving. She really wanted to release some energy, but didn't feel like ruining the foundation of the house she was currently a guest in. She shook out her hands and roamed around the small space, listening for the jingle of Robbie's keys and pushing down any ' _but what if I just leave now_?' thoughts.

She had to stop running from the people she cared about.

A cold chill flooded her body when she heard the door open and close. "Hey," she started, turning around from where she hovered in the kitchen.

She didn't get the chance to say anything else. He'd crossed the space between the front door and the kitchen surprisingly fast, his lips colliding with hers with an urgency that awoke something just as needy within her. His hands tangled momentarily in her hair before they moved to strip off his jacket, all the while pushing her backward. She bumped against the counter and used the moment to tug her shirt over her head. She hadn't put a bra on this morning and was eternally grateful for the tall trees outside the kitchen window.

"Robbie," Daisy breathed out, tilting her head back as his lips moved to her neck, teeth brushing her skin, and his hands trailed fire across her skin.

He muttered something against her skin, pushing her hips back with his hips. He was already hard and Daisy was finding it difficult to grasp at full sentences.

"Are you sure we should be doing this?" she managed to say. She just needed to know for sure; she'd been hurt too badly in the past to fall into something without a net.

He stopped kissing her, sliding his hands around her frame, his arms strong and warm. "Yes," he said, without a doubt. "I want you…so bad." It had been a long time since it was him, Robbie Reyes, who  _wanted_  anything. He was used to living on the whims of the Rider, but this? This was all him.

Daisy searched his face, from his freckles to that ridiculous mustache that she was surprisingly okay with. "I want you too," she said, speaking more to herself than to him. She needed to hear herself say it to make it real.

She pushed herself up on her toes, slid an arm around his shoulders and kissed him, soft and slow, each of his touches electric across her skin. She gently nipped at his bottom lip and his hands grazed over her jean-clad hips to her ass. Between the two of them, she ended up on the counter, wrapping her legs around his waist and pulling him close, taking his head in her hands and peppering him with kisses.

His shirt came off next, and the feeling of their bare torsos pressed together made her wet and her nipples harden. She dug her nails into his shoulders and dragged them across his skin.

Robbie groaned and brushed his hand down her chest, stroking her soft skin. "Daisy…" He pressed their foreheads together, his hand moving down, down until he reached the button of her jeans. "You're incredible."

"You're not so bad yourself," she gasped out the last word as his rough finger swept across her clit and pushed inside of her. She hadn't even felt him undo her pants.  _Sneaky_. She clutched at his hair and let him pull her to the edge of the counter, moving his hand slowly and nudging her head aside with his nose so he could kiss her neck.

Dear lord, she was going to go back to HQ with hickies all over her neck.

Fingers slick with her own personal lube brushed across her clit, pushing a little harder and she gasped out again. "Shit," she hissed, one of her hands slamming down against the counter to give her something to grip. She was somehow still riled up from their make out session just a handful of hours ago which was making this all the more intense. She tossed her head back and arched her back, feeling his lips move down her neck to her collarbone, to her sternum.

He panted out encouraging, sexy words in Spanish against her skin, circling his fingers around and sliding them inside of her like some sort of well-rehearsed dance, waiting for her to break.

Both hands gripping the counter, Daisy's eyes fluttered closed and she focused at just the right millisecond for an orgasm to release unexplainable warmth and a shudder through her entire body. "Oh God," she breathed out, riding the wave until the end. She  _almost_  quaked the house but held onto herself enough not to.

Body warm and tingly, she leaned toward him, kissing him full on the mouth, lips parted, tongue darting across his lips. He retracted his hand and pulled her off the counter, holding onto her as her legs shook momentarily. "Where did you learn that?" she asked against his mouth, waiting for feeling to come back to her legs.

"I'm good with my hands," was his only reply, hands on her hips.

She grinned devilishly up at him and undid his own pants. He stepped out of them and she stroked his cock through the material. "Your turn," she teased, leaning up to him to skim a kiss across his mouth.

Walking them backward until his back was against a wall, she pressed herself against him and kissed his jaw, tugged at his earlobe with her teeth and slowly slipped her hand under the band of his underwear. She didn't give BJs on the first date, so he was just going to have to deal.

She moved her hand slowly from head to base, sizing him up and listening to his breathing hitch. She kissed down his chest, her lips tingling with the salt from his sweat. He tilted his head back and panted out single syllables. For someone who didn't talk much, he sure as hell didn't know when to shut up.

Twisting her stroke, she felt him tremble and slowed her movements.

"Dios mio, Daisy," he nearly cried when she ran a fingertip along the edge of his head.

She sunk her teeth into her bottom lip and leaned up, pressing him back against the wall. "You weren't kidding with the loud thing, huh?" She brushed her fingers along his cock one more time before grabbing his arm and circling it around her. "Let's go," she said against his lips.

They started walking, a creature all limbs and heat. Passing by her bag at the couch, Daisy broke away from him and momentarily broke the spell to search around for a condom. She found the blue package and gave a little yell of triumph, turning to find Robbie looking at her like she was the oddest person he'd ever met.

"You always carry condoms with you?" he asked, cocking his head to the side.

She shrugged. "Well, I never know when I'm gonna be swept off my feet by an interdimensional traveler." She returned to him then, kissing and walking and stumbling their way to his room.

Daisy landed on the mattress and Robbie easily slid her jeans and panties off, leaving her naked and bathed in the dim light coming through the curtained windows. Her heart hammered in every part of her body and she watched as if in slow motion as Robbie took off his remaining piece of clothing.

She turned her head to the side, eyes closed, breathing in the faint scent of him around her amid the crinkle of the condom wrapper. She opened her eyes when his weight dipped the mattress, and he slid between her legs like it was where he was always supposed to be.

He held himself up on an arm and she lifted a hand to stroke his face, eyes heavy and hooded. A string of words tried forming in her hazy mind, but she only got out "I—" before he pushed inside of her, faster and deeper than expected. She almost bit her tongue, a moan gurgling in her throat.

"Fuck," Robbie gasped out, his other arm moving to the mattress to hold himself up.

Post-orgasm, her insides were afire, nerves blazing signals enough to make her cry; again, an inexplicable sensation that, dear God, she'd never give up in this world. She circled one of his wrists with her hand and rested the other against his neck, feeling his pulse under her palm. "Keep going," she whispered, shifting her hips just enough to remind him of what they were doing here.

He moved then, slowly, and it was like scraping over raw nerves for Daisy, the tiniest of noises escaping her between hot and chaste kisses. He retreated to shallow thrusts and relied on a single arm not to crush her, moving his free hand across her skin, squeezing her breast, pinching her nipple and sending a jolt straight down to her clit. Her entire body was on high alert. She ran her fingers through his damp hair and pulled him close for a kiss, forcing him deeper inside.

They moaned at the same time, throaty, uncontainable and Daisy's nails sunk into his skin.

"Fuck, Dais," he said, breathing haggard. He pushed his face into the pillow next to her head, his teeth sinking into her shoulder.

"You're giving me a nickname  _now_?" she panted, dropping her hold on his wrist and sliding her hand down between them, fingers moving in circles over her clit.

He laughed—it was soft and beautiful—and kissed the skin where his teeth left marks. He said nothing though, kissing her roughly on the cheek and moving quickly, circling an arm around her back and rolling them over so she was on top. She adjusted fast, sinking deeper on his cock and gaining the loudest and sexiest moan from his lips she'd ever heard in her life.

"I'm so fucked," she whispered to herself out loud.

"That's the point," Robbie said beneath her.

She shook her head, her hair sticking to her face, ignoring everything and pressing her hands to his chest so she could balance and move. Her hips in circles, Robbie's fingers pressing into the muscles of her thighs, her eyes fluttering open and closed as something small tightened inside of her, growing and growing.

He repeated her name over and over again, intermixed with the occasional curse, trailing his hands up her arms, across her stomach. He reached up to her face and she met him, leaning down and pressing her lips hungrily to his, keeping herself up on screaming sore wrists and moving back and forth, to the tip of his cock and back down.

She was on the edge, close to teetering, when her world shifted again and she was on her back and Robbie was on his knees, holding her hips up and hitting all of the right spots. She slapped a hand to the wall behind her to keep herself from hitting her head, super aware of the noise they were making and not giving a single fuck.

"Oh  _fuck_ , yes," Robbie panted out, the words hitting her where it counted and she cried out some form of a word as she tipped over the edge and her senses multiplied to a hundred times stronger. Her muscles tightened around his cock as he trembled and shook, coming along with her for the ride. He thrust a few more times, his whole body shaking, before settling against her hips and covering her body with his own, salty lips finding salty lips.

Neither of them could really breathe, their throats were beating with the pulse of their hearts and everything was glorious and human for a single moment.

"Well shit," Robbie said finally, propping himself on an elbow, not really caring as their sweat pooled together between them.

"That was…wow. Fantastic," Daisy muttered, wiping at her face before trailing a finger down his face, from temple to chin.

"So much for slow," he commented, before giving her another quick kiss and pulling away from her and taking a moment to tie off the condom and toss it out before crawling back onto the bed.

"We went slow last night," Daisy said, still catching her breath. "That counts."

He sidled up to her and draped an arm across her torso.

"You are… _so_  loud," she chuckled, running fingers lazily up and down his arm. She was mesmerized and just couldn't get enough. Her entire body still hummed with electric sparks and pent up vibrations.

"I told you," he said smugly.

She rolled her eyes. "Mmmhmm."

They fell into quiet and Daisy's eyes closed somewhere during that point and when Robbie spoke next. She could feel his eyes on her the whole time. He was memorizing her face, expecting,  _knowing_  that she would be taken from him eventually.

"I have to leave soon," he said, his voice soft but words sobering.

Daisy turned her head a little to look at him. "Already?" She didn't have to ask what he meant and where he'd be going. Her thoughts flickered to Gabe before she even allowed herself to be sad. She lived  _in space_ , she wasn't allowed to be upset over Robbie leaving.

He pressed his lips into a line and nodded. "Yeah."

She lifted a hand and gently traced his features. "Have you told Gabe you aren't staying?"

He sighed, closing his eyes and laying still for long enough that she thought she may have broken him. "I didn't tell him, but I think he knows. He knows what I have inside of me; I'm never going to be  _here_  for long. Not after…"

She nodded. He didn't have to continue. "Then I guess we just gotta take what we can get and enjoy today." She slithered out from under his grasp and stood, the cool air attacking her sweaty limbs. "Shower?" She glanced down at him.

He half-smiled, half-smirked up at her. "Only if I can come with."

  


  


  


  


  


  


  


  


Daisy and Robbie picked Gabe up from school, dropped him off at the library to do some studying, and used the next hour and a half to walk around the touristy streets and pretend that they were just that. They didn't hold hands or anything, but they caught enough stolen moments to kiss and pretend, for a second, that they were normal. The day stretched on and it grew harder for Robbie to quiet the voice of the Rider.

By the time they picked up Gabe again to take him to his favorite place,  _La Placita_ , for dinner, Robbie was back to his somber self and Daisy and Gabe did most of the chattering.

"I'll be heading up…North," she said for Gabe's benefit, "tomorrow night."

"Yeah?" The younger Reyes finished off his last empanada and licked his fingers. "I'm surprised you stayed more than just a few hours." His gaze moved from Daisy to Robbie and back again.

Okay, so he was  _smart_. Daisy gave him the credit he deserved, but she really hoped he wouldn't nose into her or Robbie's business too much. It was for his own protection. "Yeah, well, extreme circumstances," Daisy said, eyeing Robbie out from under her eyelashes.

Robbie took the longest, most dramatic breath in the world and Gabe raised his eyes over at Daisy.

"C'mon guys, don't pretend I don't know you're… _together_  or whatever," he said, waving his hand between the two of them.

"We're only kind of—" Daisy started and Robbie said, "We're not really—"

"Together," Daisy finished, shaking her head at herself.

"It doesn't matter anyway. I'm leaving," Robbie said bluntly.

Daisy kicked him under the table.

The amusement on Gabe's face fell, as did the tortilla chip piled high with salsa.  _Splat_ , right on his plate. "What?"

"Yeah,  _Robbie_ , what the hell?" Daisy crossed her arms and sat back.

Robbie clenched his jaw. "Gabe, you know I can't stay."

"Yeah, but I figured you could stay for more than like,  _a day_."

"I don't get to make that call," Robbie reminded him. As much as it hurt him for Gabe to know about him, it was even worse when he used it as an excuse, even if it was valid.

Gabe glared at his plate, eventually looked up at Daisy and sighed. She was telling him silently not to be too hard on Robbie, to be thankful he came back at all. They'd had this talk before.

"Yeah, alright," Gabe said finally, scooping his broken chip off his plate. "I get it. Let's just…have fun."

Robbie gave him a sad but appreciative smile.

Daisy leaned toward him and lowered her voice. "Good job, but try to sound just a  _little_  more enthused next time, kay?"

Forty minutes later and they were all seated on the couch, PlayStation controllers in hand. The fastest and easiest way to pass the time while keeping the spirits up was for racing games, snacks and otherwise forgetting that there was a world that existed outside of this single house.

Robbie cooked a small second dinner. Daisy helped under his instruction. It was actually exciting to have to hold herself back from jumping his bones in the kitchen. A strange sensation, but one that just added onto the mix of it all. Latin music filled all open spaces in the house, and while Daisy only knew a handful of Spanish, it didn't stop her from dancing to the delightful beats.

It even helped show Gabe a side of Robbie he thought that was lost after the accident. Robbie, sneaking around, covered in blood, hiding secrets…that was the Robbie he was used to. And while the Robbie in front of him wasn't the same as before, Gabe was surprised to see him smiling and occasionally laughing.

He had a feeling it was because of Daisy.

He never apologized for telling her to leave Robbie alone, back before Gabe knew what was really going on. The moment had long since passed, and her defiance was clear in front of his eyes. He was thankful.

After the kitchen was clean and everyone's bellies were full, Gabe said he  _still_ had homework to do.

"Don't study too much, kid," Daisy called after him before he shut his bedroom door. She turned to Robbie and gave him a smile. "Real smooth earlier at the restaurant."

Robbie shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged. "It just slipped out."

She nodded. "So…wanna take me for a ride?"

He raised his eyebrows.

"In your car, gutter-mind," she rolled her eyes.

The engine roared to life in the driveway and Daisy knocked on Gabe's ajar door and peeked inside. "Hey, we're just going out for a spin. I'll make sure Robbie says bye before leaving, okay?"

Gabe nodded. "Thanks, Daisy."

She gave him a genuine smile before joining her not-boyfriend in his intensely badass ride.

"Where to?" he asked once she closed the door.

"Driver's choice." She resisted the urge to put her boots on the dash and spent a good deal of time just watching him as he drove, shifting through gears and roaring around corners.

They slipped through some trees and got to a clearing. It was all very romantic; lights over the city and all. Daisy twisted in her seat.

"Did you bring me to some secluded spot just to make out with me, Robbie Reyes?" She wiggled her eyebrows at him, teasing.

He smiled a ghost of a smile. "Not in the car."

She leaned over the console. "That's not a no."

"Thank you." Genuine.

Daisy sank back into her seat. "What for?"

"Looking after Gabe while I'm gone."

"I can only do so much what with," she flitted her fingers toward the ceiling, toward the sky, toward space. "He's alone a lot."

"I know." He gripped the wheel. "I put the Darkhold someplace but it's already been compromised."

"That's why you're leaving," she sighed. That damn book was going to haunt them for the rest of their lives.

"I don't want Gabe to know anything about it."

She shook his head. "He doesn't. Believe me, if there's one thing I know how to do, it's keep a secret. Especially to save someone's life."

He didn't say anything. The muscle in his jaw clenched, unclenched.

She reached over and delicately placed her hand on top of his. "Hey," she said, quietly coaxing him back to her. "How are you and… _it_  getting on?"

"I don't really know anymore."

She squeezed his hand.

"And not to sound like some cheap, white-ass romance movie, but I think about you a lot."

The corner of her mouth twitched up. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. You…your humanity and kindness. It helps." He looked at her, vulnerable for a flash of a second.

"So you  _only_  think about my bubbling personality?" She teased. She had such a hard time controlling herself around him. There was so much darkness and so many terrible things they'd been through, she just wanted to  _forget_.

He twisted in his seat and slid a hand over her cheek. "Maybe your ass, too."

She laughed. "As if I didn't already know you were an ass man."

He smiled and leaned and kissed her, taking her breath away. Just like that.

"Wow. Kissing in the Charger," she mused.

"Don't get used to it," he cautioned.

"Long distance is gonna suck," she frowned, circling his wrist with her hand.

He rested their foreheads together, closed his eyes, tried to remember what it felt to  _feel_  again.

"I have to leave," he said again, breaking the spell.

"You have to say goodbye to Gabe," she demanded, searching his eyes as they hardened, a battle behind them.

The drive back was faster and more desperate than before. The Charge screeched to a halt in front of the house and Robbie had feet on the pavement before the engine stopped rumbling. Daisy rushed after him.

"Hey, Gabe," Robbie's voice boomed through the house. He didn't even knock before opening his brother's door.

The room hadn't changed in years, and the calmness and sameness of it settled him for a moment.

"Robbie," Gabe startled, wheeling around.

"I gotta go."

Gabe searched for Daisy's face in the doorway.  _This was it_ , she told him. He swallowed. "Okay. When will you come back?"

Robbie shook his head. "I don't know. But I will be back." He walked forward, giving Gabe a kiss on the top of his head and squeezing his shoulder. "Be good."

"You too," Gabe said, though he knew his words didn't matter. He watched, face strained as Robbie walked through the house toward the back door through the kitchen, grabbing his chain along the way.

Daisy followed him closely. He was burning up, and the cool night air helped her to not sweat through her shirt. "Robbie," she said, catching his hand. He turned slowly, eyes still him and not the Rider. "You know how to find me when you come back." She needed to hear him say it.

"Yeah," he nodded and turned away, hand on the melted handle of his choice weapon.

"Wait." She yanked at his arm and turned him around, stepping up to her toes and kissing him, ignoring the heat under his skin. He returned the kiss, soft and hard all at once. "Goodbye," she whispered as he pressed the Charger keys into her hand.

Stepping back, she watched his skin burn, watched him change into the demon that possessed him. Skull, flames. It didn't care about her, turning away and drawing the chain. Whipping it around, a portal fluttered amid the flaming circle and the Ghost Rider stepped through, leaving nothing behind but the smell of brimstone and ash.

Daisy hugged her arms around herself as if all of her warmth was taken away. She lingered a bit too long before heading back inside.

  


  


  


  


  


  


  


  


When she left Gabe, she gave him the biggest hug she could manage and told him she'd be back soon. The transport to the station was always uncomfortable, her senses completely blacked out until she suddenly gasped awake on a space station somewhere in the universe.

"How'd it go?" Coulson asked, meeting her outside the pod chamber room. He handed her a coffee.

"Oh, you know," she shrugged a shoulder.

Jemma came around the corner. "Daisy, you're back!" She rushed forward and the two women hugged. "Did Robbie tell you anything that could help us?"

"Straight to the point," Coulson commented, sipping his own mug.

"He told me he hid the Darkhold but it wasn't safe so he's back to dimension hopping."

Jemma frowned and released Daisy's arms. "You had three days on earth. That must have been lovely. Tell me all about it?"

Daisy smiled, thankful to be back. At least, she was thankful to be back with her family, the only people she considered familial that is, even though it dragged her away from another family that desperately needed her.

She put her arm around Jemma's shoulders. "Oh-ho, there is so much to tell." She leaned closer so no one would overhear. "I slept with Robbie."

Jemma's mouth fell open. "Oh! You didn't. You did?! Daisy…"

"Happy for me? Good, you should be." She squeezed Jemma's shoulder. "He also took me to a teenagers' make out spot."

"Good Lord," Jemma shook her head.

"Hey, you asked."

"I didn't even…I didn't even know you two liked each other in that context. Knowing how you first met…"

"When are my relationships with guys ever conventional?"

Jemma paused. "You do have a point."

Daisy grinned. "What'd I miss here?"

"Oh, you know, the usual. Work, eat, sleep, report. Not all in that order, of course. It's so endless up here. I miss the excitement of living on a planet. Minus all of the bad things that happened to me on them," she added, thinking of both planets she once called home.

They just got to the galley when red alarm lights flashed and a teeth-grating alarm screeched through the station.

"Containment breach. Containment breach," a mechanical voice said over the intercom.

Daisy sighed. "Home sweet spaceship." She put down her untouched cup of coffee. "Let's go."

She and Jemma took off at a jog, ready to save the world, once again.


End file.
